Daily Dose for May 05, 2008

Cushions For Bredesen's Budget Cuts

Cushions For Bredesen's Budget Cuts -- Gov. Bredesen, unanimously praised for his business-like approach to state budget cuts, will need to present cuts of $550M from the $28B budget on May 12. The Governor's cuts will most likely include layoffs of state workers, which Bredesen says are the single biggest expenditure of state government. Bredesen has warned that no area of state government is safe from cuts except for K-12 education, but even there, Knox Co. is worried Bredesen might roll back the money designated under the revised education formulary dubbed BEP 2.0. Cuts are also expected in the Pre-K education program Bredesen previously pushed and a planned state pay raise.

Lottery Surplus Down Too -- In addition to projected declines in state revenues, the lottery surplus projections have also decreased since the beginning of the Legislative session. That's put a new spin on what Republicans and Democrats plan to do with the extra money. Democrats still hope to lower the state GPA retention requirement, which they say will allow more students to keep the lottery scholarship, but that's a plan Republican oppose on the grounds that it is unclear now if the surplus can cover that much in new expenditures. House Democrats, on the other hand, are united against a Republican-backed plan that would have distributed some of the lottery surplus to capital projects for local school boards. More here.

Voter Fatigue Sets in Early -- The Chattanooga Times Free Press examines an early-set-in case of voter fatigue for the residents of Hamilton Co. That county has a special election for Sheriff in August and federal and state elections in November, but voters are already fed up with hearing about politics. Despite the rising negative reaction to the candidates and the political process, more donations are flowing in to the major candidates and more voters showed up to the polls for the Presidential primary this time than any other in recent history.

Charter Changes in Memphis a Stalemate -- Commissioners are trying to update the charter to clarify the duties of the sheriff, trustee, property assessor, county clerk and register after the Tennessee Supreme Court ruled in January 2007 that Knox County's charter, which is similar to the Shelby charter, didn't specifically create those five offices. So commissioners were planning to put a proposed charter amendment on the Aug. 7 ballot that, if approved by the voters, would correct the problem, but that proposal has been at a political stalemate. The proposal failed by one vote when eight commissioners voted for it, one voted against, two abstained and two were absent on second reading. The rules now require that the lone Commissioner voting no must present a motion to reconsider for the vote to be retaken, unless a motion to suspend the rules is approved. The lone no-vote Commissioner Deidre Malone says she disapproves of the amendment, because it would keep all the positions elected.

Posted by Adam Groves | Email This |